Do I need a phono pre amp?

Thanks for the input. I've just never had to turn the volume up that high on previous preamps. There isn't any noise at that level so I guess I'll just go with it. Thanks to all

I agree with Banquo353. I always like my preamp at the upper range,I think they sound better at full gain. As long as it is not noisy.

Phono stages/preamps RIAA equalize the signal of your cartridge. If you did use another, going into the phono in of your preamp; your signal would be equalized twice and the results would not sound very good.

Unless there's excessive noise, what's wrong with being at 2-3 o'clock? I'm at 4 o'clock with some carts.

NO! If you use another phono pre use it into a line level input; otherwise you will overload your pre and possibly damage it. The 103 is a moving coil cartridge which requires more amplification than a moving magnet cartridge. See if your pre has a MC setting; if it does not you will need a step up transformer or head amp to raise the output of the cartridge or else go to a moving magnet. There is endless lit on here on the differences between them.